Fall
by Suadela
Summary: Tron has always fought for the users, but lately things have been getting difficult. This is a tale of hardship and struggle, and learning that sometimes no matter how hard you try, it just isn't good enough.
1. Prologue

Title: Fall  
>Author: Suadela<br>Rating: G  
>Disclaimer: Disney owns it. I play with it.<br>Acknowledgements: Thanks to Fritz for being my beta. She caught so many mistakes and this story would have been horrible without her.  
>A.N.: I may continue this if my muses will let me. Reviews help. ^_^<p>

Prologue

Thunder rolled in the distance. Tron looked towards the approaching storm. The whole thing seemed symbolic, he thought. A storm was coming and even the creator was helpless to stop it. Especially if he refused to believe it was even coming.

Despite how much Tron had tried to warn Kevin Flynn of what CLU was becoming, what he was doing, the user remained convinced that everything was fine. It was frustrating. Tron left everything behind on the Encom system to come and help Flynn protect his private system. Flynn trusted him to do his job and Tron made sure every resident from the grid was protected from harm.

But he could do nothing to protect it from its biggest threat. Tron didn't trust CLU. His ability to manipulate code was almost user-like and Tron felt he was too powerful. Though he couldn't create programs, he could create buildings and roads and almost anything else the system required for the programs to function properly. That kind of user-like power was dangerous for a program to have. The MCP had a similar power.

Tron knew it agitated CLU that the grid bugs tore apart everything he created. He knew that Clu, very much like Flynn, wanted to create and to have his hard work torn down in front of him must have been difficult.

Tron used to be a simple program. His life had been very direct and his function was straightforward: Find any task not schedule and shut it down. He had been given the tools to fulfill his function and was happy to do so. He knew taking down the MCP pleased his creator greatly.

Then Flynn came back to the system and told him about a new system he was building and even though the user obviously looked to Tron as a friend, Tron couldn't help but see the other as a user: A being that created programs seemingly on a whim. After spending a few cycles with the man, Tron had learned much about users. They weren't perfect. They weren't all knowing. And even though they were extremely powerful, in some ways, more powerful than Tron could even dream, they weren't all powerful. He watched as Flynn fumbled his way around the new grid and knew the user was testing to see what he could and couldn't do. Flynn couldn't do everything. One large example was that he wasn't able to keep the portal open for more than a milicycle, so his time on the Grid was short. His times away from the Grid seemed to grow each time he left.

Tron was no longer a simple program. He saw the complexity of the life Flynn lived. He was of two worlds; this one, where he had the responsibility of creating, and those of the user world. Tron didn't know exactly what responsibilities the user had in his own world. With how long he was gone and how tired he seemed to be the last few times he had come, Tron imagined the responsibilities to be great; especially Sam. Tron knew Flynn's devotion to the child.

He also knew the frustration CLU had to deal with. The administrative program was trying to follow a complex function and he did not have the proper tools or the proper understanding of what his creator actually wanted. Tron blamed Flynn for most of this. He had a half formed idea of what he wanted and gave a program the task of seeing it done. And he made his creation just as stubborn as he was.

CLU's frustration was completely understandable. Flynn was gone for cycles at a time, leaving the maintenance of the Grid in CLU's hands and the protection of it in Tron's. Added to all this, he didn't tell either program how to deal with the grid bugs caused by the ISOs. Tron doubted Flynn even understood the growing complexity of the problem since he was rarely on the grid. He tried to update Flynn on what was going on with the system but the user brushed off most of his worries, having complete faith that CLU would do what was right.

Tron didn't have that faith. He had seen first hand what CLU had done to the system while Flynn was away. He knew the program thought himself to be just like the creator.

He knew it was only a matter of time before the frustrated program did something drastic. Yes, a storm was coming.

"Would you stop worrying about it, Tron?" Flynn laughed good naturedly at him. He turned his attention from the approaching thunderstorm to the user. "Man, everything's fine. Everything's under control." Flynn shook his head in good humor. He obviously thought he knew more about the situation than Tron did. He hoped Flynn was right. Maybe he did know more than Tron gave him credit for.

"Flynn!" Tron and Flynn both stopped walking and turned to CLU. Something seemed off about him. Tron's concern grew as he took in the yellow armor. "Am I still to create the perfect system?"


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Fall  
>Author: Suadela<br>Rating: G  
>Disclaimer: Disney owns it. I play with it.<br>Acknowledgments: Thanks to Bloodyfire for helping me actually get this story typed out. Without her I probably would have given up. And also thanks Crystalshard for being my beta. She caught so many mistakes and this chapter would have been terrible without her.

Chapter One

Tron woke up in pain. Gasping for breath and opening his eyes wide, he tried to call out to someone, anyone to help him. His panic grew as no sound came out of his mouth. All he heard was a soft grinding sound he couldn't place at first, but the sound's consistency was soothing even if the sound itself was not. He calmed down a little, despite the pain. Realizing he was in a quarantine cell, he searched his memory banks for a reason as to why he was here.

His eye grew wide as he remembered the coup, fighting off the guards and CLU's disc coming down on him. He bit back on the panic that was starting to rise again and tried to sit up from his position. His body wouldn't move, and he wondered how long it had been since he had any energy.

He settled for observing the cell he was in. These cells were almost identical to the cells he had been in during the rule of the MCP, except for the fact that they didn't allow the prisoners to talk to each other. His cell was completely cut off from the rest. The circumstances were clear. CLU wanted him isolated.

He powered down and rebooted again and again for a while, slowly growing weaker. If he didn't get any energy soon, he was going to derezz. What a way for the legendary Tron to go out, he thought bitterly. After what seemed like cycles, he heard footsteps approaching his cell.

"Finally awake?" came CLU's haughty voice as he stopped just outside the barrier. "Glad to see it. How do you feel?"

Tron's face morphed into a snarl as he tried to accuse CLU of the betrayal. He opened his mouth and tried to ask CLU why he had done it, but no sound came out and he barely had enough energy to move his limbs, much less get up and attack the other program.

CLU grinned at Tron's struggle. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." His expression grew darker and more sinister. "You'll only make it worse." He finally stepped through the barrier and approached Tron, his face curious, inspecting.

Tron continued to struggle to get up, but his energy had left him. Breathing heavily, he glared up at the betrayer, the strange sound rising in volume and he realized it was coming from the wound in his chest.

CLU watched Tron appraisingly. "You took quite the injury there. Oh well, I should be able to fix that. You're not perfect yet, Tron, but you will be." He gave Tron a closed-lipped smile. "I'll make some adjustments to your code and you'll be better than new: The perfect enforcer of the new regime."

Tron would never follow CLU, not after what the program had done to Flynn. He didn't even know if Flynn escaped from the Grid. Sometimes it took a while for change to take effect and Tron hoped that was the case. He wouldn't have to fight CLU for long. He opened his mouth to say as much but when no sound came out, Tron settled for glowering at CLU.

CLU's grin widened. "That's the spirit," he mocked. Tron flushed with embarrassment and anger as CLU inspected him like a lightcycle. It didn't last long though as CLU finally left him, walking out of the cell. A guard entered soon after with a vial of energy.

Tron allowed the guard to pour the energy in his mouth, but regardless of the fact that he did need the energy, he spit it back out over the guard's face. He was going to show his defiance to CLU in every way he could.

The faceless guard easily overpowered the weakened warrior, tilting his head back and forcing the energy down his throat. Other than the force he used to perform this action, there seemed to be no emotion behind the guard's reaction; merely the drive to carry out his orders.

Tron gagged on the energy and even coughed some of it up, but it still entered his system. He immediately felt better, though it wasn't nearly enough to give him energy to fight. CLU obviously didn't want him derezzing from the lack of it.

Sitting up as the guard left, Tron watched the barrier and waited to see what would happen next.

* * *

><p>CLU didn't return for a full decicycle. Tron had spent most of his time either powered down or near a power down, as the guards gave him just enough energy not to derezz. This was near torture for the normally active program. Even when he'd been in the MCP's cells, he'd still been able to play in the games. But here, all he was able to do was lie around and occasionally stand or pace if he had enough energy at the time. He fought the guards each time they came in, knowing it was probably better to be derezzed than to allow CLU to do whatever he had planned for him.<p>

It came as a surprise when Tron heard the sound of boots coming closer. Knowing who it was Tron didn't even bother to sit up. He wasn't going to let CLU think that he held even the slightest respect for him.

CLU finally entered the cell. "Greetings," he said smugly, a disc clutched casually in his hand. Tron said nothing, but watched the other warily. He took a closer look at the disc and noticed it was actually two combined into one. That was odd. Tron didn't think identity discs could do that. The program itself would have to have two-

His eyes widened as he remembered taking one of the discs from the programs that had attacked Flynn. He had never heard of a program being able to use another's disc so easily, but since he was in the middle of a fight, Tron hadn't thought much of it and had quickly forgotten about that disc.

"Your disc," CLU offered as he handed the discs to Tron, his tone was light and conversational. The warrior did not even make a move to take the disc. He simply glared at CLU instead. CLU's face fell in disappointment. "Have it your way," he said as two guards entered the cell through the energy barrier behind him. They approached Tron and pulled him up, presenting the program's disc dock to their leader.

Though he had not been given enough energy, Tron struggled anyway, knowing that disc held something he would not want. CLU had the power to reprogram discs in case a program faced becoming obsolete. That way, every program on the Grid would have a function. But he knew CLU would try to reprogram _him_. He knew CLU wouldn't allow him to continue to be defiant.

Tron vowed to himself that he would reject what was on that disc with his entire being. He would fight CLU every step of the way. All he had to do was to fight long enough for Flynn to fix things from the user world. He just had to have faith.

Barely even noticing CLU's approach, Tron felt the click of the disc being docked and was suddenly overwhelmed by the pain that was caused by the disc synchronizing with him. He fought the codes that were being forced into his core data. The software patch was comprehensive, and though it wasn't Alan1's style, it was obviously working as a painful scream erupted from his mouth. As soon as he realized he was the one screaming, he forced himself to become silent once again. He focused on rejecting the rest of the code, refusing to let it sync any further. "No," he gasped out. "I won't accept it."

CLU stepped forward and accessed the stubborn program's code while the disc was still docked. He made some adjustments that forced more of it into Tron, each line feeling like a cut in a tender spot, causing him to jerk a little with every tap CLU made on his disc. No matter how much the program fought, CLU was still able to push in more modifications, and the small vials of energy Tron had been given were not enough for him to continue fighting. The disc finished syncing.

Tron felt himself fall into an unwilling reboot, and knew that when he woke back up, the updates Clu had forced on him would apply.


End file.
